Votive Offering

Date400-200 BC

MediumEarthenware

DimensionsObject/Work: 60 x 180 x 110 mm

ClassificationsReligious/Ritual Equipment

Terms

Object numberC07415

DescriptionVotive offering in form of an uterus. It is flat on one side, with ridged indentations on the other suggesting muscle contraction during childbirth.

In antiquity, votive offerings in the form of body parts were often left in healing sanctuaries across Etruria. They would be made in the form of the body part afflicted and were left either as thanks by those who had been healed, or by those in hope of a cure.

In the case of offerings depicted as wombs, it is likely that they were left by those hoping to conceive a child. This connection with fertility and the hope of childbirth can be further seen in votives of this type which have a small pellet of clay inside them to represent the child.

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